Hello everyone, I'm Xingchen, and welcome to our "First Lesson in Cryptocurrency Survival." This series took me a month to meticulously develop. It's divided into 10 lessons, and over five weeks, it will take you from beginner to safe beginner. The goal at this stage is to learn how to avoid losses, not how to make money!

Before we begin, I'd like you to take out a banknote from your wallet, or open your Alipay account, and look at the number on it. Ask yourself a question: Why do we believe this piece of paper or this number has value?

Is it because it has beautiful print? Or is it because it buys something?

No. We believe in it because we trust the issuers behind it – the banks and the government.

Since the first transaction in human history, "trust" has been the cornerstone of money. But what if one day this cornerstone is shaken?

Today, I won't be talking about code or technology. In just ten minutes, we'll journey through thousands of years of history, from shells to gold, and then to the financial crisis that shook global confidence. Like reading a captivating story, you'll thoroughly understand the true origins of Bitcoin—this great monetary revolution.

1. The story of money: Why do we trust a piece of paper? 📜

Long ago, we traded shells, feathers, and salt. Why? Because everyone thought they were rare and beautiful, and therefore willing to accept them. This was a kind of trust based on collective consensus.

Later, we discovered gold and silver. They gleamed, were scarce, easily divisible, and rust-proof. Their value came from their scarcity, which greatly enhanced their credibility. But the problem was, carrying a bag of gold to buy groceries was too heavy and too dangerous!

So, clever people invented paper money. You deposited gold in a "vault" (the predecessor of banks), and the vault gave you a piece of paper as proof. The paper itself had no value, but it represented an equivalent amount of gold and could be redeemed at any time. At this time, our trust was in the tangible gold behind the piece of paper.

Later, even the gold peg was removed. The money we use today is called "fiat currency," and its value comes entirely from the backing of national credit. We trust it because we trust the institutions that issue it to remain compliant.

See? The form of currency has always changed, but its core has always been "trust." Until 2008, a huge crack appeared in this core.

2. The collapse of trust: the storm of 2008 💥

In 2008, a financial tsunami originating from the United States swept the world.

The banks we once trusted so deeply were driven to bankruptcy overnight by excessive greed and irresponsible investments. To save these "too big to fail" financial giants, the government began frantically "printing money," injecting astronomical amounts of currency into the market.

What is the result?

The banks were saved, but the money in the hands of ordinary people around the world became less and less valuable due to over-issuance (inflation). We suddenly discovered that the fate of our wealth is not in our own hands, but in the hands of centralized institutions that may make mistakes or even deceive us.

Our trust in centralized institutions collapsed at that moment.

The world desperately needs a new solution.

3. The Birth of Bitcoin: A Trustless "Trust Machine" 💡

At the height of the financial crisis, a mysterious man who called himself "Satoshi Nakamoto" published an article online titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System."

He proposed a revolutionary idea:

Can we create a currency that doesn't rely on any bank or government, but instead runs on math and code?

Its total amount is fixed and no one can issue more, just like gold in the digital world.

Each of its transactions is recorded in a globally open ledger that cannot be tampered with by anyone.

This genius idea is Bitcoin.

It solves the most fundamental problem: trust. We no longer need to trust any institution, as Bitcoin's rules are transparent and hard-coded. We only need to trust mathematics and cryptography, which are absolutely rational and fair.

It is like a "trust machine" that creates unbreakable trust in an environment where trust is not required.

📖 Course Summary:
Today we learned that the birth of Bitcoin is not a technological stunt, but a profound reflection and revolutionary solution to the crisis of trust in traditional finance.

✅ Questions for reflection after class:
Take a minute to think about what other things in your daily life are based on trust in a "center"? (For example, using WeChat Pay relies on trust in Tencent.) Feel free to leave your answers and thoughts in the comments section below, and I'll respond to each one and share with everyone!

🚀 Next episode preview:
If Bitcoin solved the trust problem, why did thousands of other cryptocurrencies emerge? What is Ethereum, hailed as the "world computer"? What role do stablecoins, the "dollar" of the crypto world, play? In the next lesson, we'll continue exploring this fascinating world!

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